View source for Letitia H. Verdin

{{Short description|American judge (born 1970)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name        = Letitia Verdin
| image       = LetitiaHVerdin.png
| caption     = Verdin following her election to the Supreme Court by the General Assembly, 2024
| office      = Associate Justice of the [[South Carolina Supreme Court]]
| term_start  = July 31, 2024
| term_end    =
| predecessor = [[John W. Kittredge]]
| successor   =
| birth_date  = {{birth year and age|1970}}
| birth_place = [[Seneca, South Carolina|Seneca]], [[South Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date  =
| death_place =
| education   = [[Furman University]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[University of South Carolina]] ([[Juris Doctor|JD]])
}}
'''Letitia Hamilton Verdin''' (born 1970) is an Associate Justice of the [[South Carolina Supreme Court]].
== Education and personal life ==
Verdin was born in Seneca, South Carolina to Angela and Harry Hamilton.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Mangrum |first=Dick |date=2023-02-10 |title=A Seneca "daughter" climbs the judicial ladder |url=https://wgog.com/a-seneca-daughter-climbs-the-judicial-ladder/ |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=101.7 WGOG |language=en-US}}</ref> She graduated in 1988 as valedictorian from [[Seneca Senior High School]].<ref>{{cite news |date=June 2, 1998 |title=To the Class of '88 (Seneca) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/anderson-independent-mail-seneca-letitia/148767011/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |newspaper=[[Anderson Independent Mail]] |page=1C |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=May 29, 1998 |title=1988 high school graduation ceremony, top student roundup (Oconee County, Seneca High School) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-seneca-high-school-1/148767049/ |access-date=June 6, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Greenville News]] |page=2B |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> She received a [[Bachelor of Science]] from [[Furman University]] in 1992 and a [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[University of South Carolina Law School]] in 1997.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=SC Judicial Department |url=https://www.sccourts.org/appeals/displayJudge.cfm?judgeID=1149 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=www.sccourts.org}}</ref> Verdin is married to attorney, Charles "Chuck" Verdin.<ref>{{cite news |date=August 17, 1997 |title=Weddings Lala Letitia Hamilton & Charles Smith Verdin IV |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-marriage-of-hamilton/148382059/ |access-date=May 30, 2024 |newspaper=[[The Greenville News]] |page=5D |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
== Career ==
After graduating law school, Verdin worked as an assistant solicitor in SC's 8th judicial circuit while also working in a private law firm.<ref name=":0" />
In 2008 the state's [[South Carolina General Assembly|General Assembly]] elected Verdin to fill the vacancy on the thirteenth circuit family court created by the elevation of Judge Aphrodite Konduros to the state's Court of Appeals.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Tim |date=May 22, 2008 |title=Upstate judges defeated in court races |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-greenville-news-verdin-replaces-fami/148382532/ |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=[[The Greenville News]] |pages=2A |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
In 2010, she was elected to replace the vacancy on the SC Circuit Court created by [[John Cannon Few]]'s elevation to Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 4, 2011 |title=Woman with local ties elected to be 13th Circuit court  judge |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-index-journal-verdin-fills-few-vacan/148386262/ |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=[[The Greenville News]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
In 2023, Verdin was elected to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
After the withdrawal of two other judges, Verdin was the sole candidate to fill the upcoming vacancy on the [[South Carolina Supreme Court]] caused by the elevation of Justice [[John W. Kittredge]] to Chief Justice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bustos |first=Joseph |date=May 30, 2024 |title=SC Supreme Court will have a woman justice again after last year’s all-male abortion decision |url=https://www.thestate.com/news/politics-government/article288878592.html |access-date=May 30, 2024 |work=[[The State (newspaper)|The State]]}}</ref> On June 5, 2024, Verdin was elected 152-0 by the South Carolina General Assembly to the Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=Jeffrey |date=June 5, 2024 |title=South Carolina is trading its all-male Supreme Court for an all-white one |url=https://www.wltx.com/article/news/local/letitia-verdin-elected-to-south-carolina-supreme-court/101-69f72a35-f6e8-4026-be88-4e3b163389be |access-date=June 5, 2024 |work=WLTX-TV}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
*{{Ballotpedia|Letitia_H._Verdin}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John W. Kittredge]]}}
{{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Associate Justice of the [[South Carolina Supreme Court]]}}|years=2024–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}
{{Current South Carolina statewide political officials}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdin, Letitia H.}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:20th-century American lawyers]]
[[Category:21st-century American judges]]
[[Category:Furman University alumni]]
[[Category:Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Seneca, South Carolina]]
[[Category:South Carolina state court judges]]
[[Category:University of South Carolina School of Law alumni]]